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'Entourage': Coke and a smile

August 15, 2010 | 11:45
pm

And the hits just keep on coming for “Entourage” boys in this episode, titled “Tequila and Coke.”

The half hour started buoyantly enough, with babes in and out of bikinis at a sex- and drug-fueled after party, sponsored by Avion tequila, which saw Vince, Scotty, Sasha and another girl riding high on talk of jumping out of planes and blow, and Chris Bosh offering a bartender $1,000 to get his girl a drink made out of vodka. This bacchanal was lost on domesticated E, who was already settled in bed, outfitted in an old ratty NY t-shirt and who merely called in like a dutiful spouse to make sure Vince got enough rest for his second meeting with writer-director Randall Wallace the following day.

But true to hedonistic Vince, the importance of his Air-Walker meeting took a back seat to other more timely and imminent pleasures. The actor ended up arriving on his Harley Davidson high on a cocktail of Vicodin and coke, and Vince’s jittery right leg, inability to focus and giggles of “my fingers are sealed” did not do anything to allay Wallace’s fears.

Turtle also started the episode flying high, capitalizing on Vince’s Twitter followers and awash in the booming Avion sales and building buzz. Only, Turtle was making checks that Avion itself couldn’t cash. In his palatial seaside mansion, Carlos (Miguel Sandoval) curtly told the wannabe mover and shaker that he didn’t need a salesman – nor did he have the 50 cases of tequila that Turtle promised to Gil Turner’s Fine Wines and Liquors guy Ken Tanaka Randy (Patrick Gallagher). So Turtle was embarrassingly sent scrambling to get back cases from the likes of cameoing golfing buddies Mark Wahlberg and P. Diddy … though not James Cameron (“He’s the Terminator,” said Turtle).

Ari was anxiously awaiting an apocalypse of Cameronian proportions after Lizzie Grant told him she had sent Deadline Hollywood tapes of his epic rants. Only, no reports had surfaced, and the anticipation was making him squirm like a 9-year old after a Big Gulp. And while partner Babs had warned him not to go into the lion’s den, Ari and his narcissism couldn’t resist calling Anna over at Deadline Hollywood (hello, Carrie Fisher!) to get the 411. Turned out Anna hadn’t the foggiest idea what he was talking about, but his hemming and hawing and sloppy recovery (Howard Stern as the new host of “Jeopardy!”? That’s the best he could come up with?) reeked of some kind of cover-up.

Though was anyone else suspicious of Lizzie’s sudden benevolent change of heart? Saying that it was all Amanda Daniels’ plan to sue Ari, and going from vindictive disgruntled employee to a wounded minion who just wanted a studio job clanged all sorts of ill-sounding bells. (Plus, didn’t it seem like Lizzie was recording their conversation on her iPhone when she and Ari were talking it out at Bouchon?) Given all the grief and ire that she had let rip beforehand, the fact that Lizzie would just hand over the tapes (without a guarantee of a studio job – turned out Lenny Kravitz is so beyond movies where he's merely strumming a guitar shirtless, even if it does star Russell Crowe and Charlize Theron) and hug it out with her estranged former boss smelled to the high heavens of a lot of B.S. Part of me was expecting the box to contain a bunch of empty tape cases.

Of course, it was no surprise when his rants ended up on Deadline Hollywood anyway. And while we all knew that this would mark the end of Ari’s relationship with Jerry Jones (who apparently always has to be filmed in and around Cowboys Stadium) and the NFL (“I don’t do scandals; the NFL doesn’t do scandals,” Jones drawled. “It’s over”), will the well-known fact that the agent's mouth is prone to bouts of crasstastic verbal runs really ruin his relationship with his wife?

In other news, Drama could not get behind Billy Walsh’s inspired idea about making him an ape. “You’re a high-strung simian trying to make it in a human world that just doesn’t get you,” explained Walsh with the utmost sincerity. Too bad Drama didn’t get the appeal. “You want me to voice a mean gorilla?” the reluctant star of “Johnny’s Bananas” asked. “He’s not mean – he’s just misunderstood,” replied Walsh.

What do you think? Will Vince still end up with the Air-Walker part? What’s E going to think when he finds out his best friend has been doing blow with Scotty? Who do you think released the tape transcripts to Deadline Hollywood? Can anyone bring a pro football team to L.A.?

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